Pounced
by Scuff
Summary: Jareth get's pounced by Schneider. Sarah is forced to rescue him. Jareth shows that he is greatful by being a jerk. (of course) PS. Thank you for edditing Peggy!
1. Default Chapter

Pounced  
  
By: Scuff  
  
Authors Note: I own nothing accept the cat and my story plot. That is all...  Oh yeah, reviews are very welcome. Tell me how to improve! ^~^  
  
Sarah popped a piece of Halloween candy into her mouth as she let her eyes travel over her living room filled with a variety of underground residents.  The wise old man, whose bird hat was ducking down in fear of the ceiling fan, had claimed her armchair as his perch for the night.  The little blue worm had taken a place on the edge of a brick that protruded from her fireplace.  The worm's wife, or "Missus" as he called her, was home sick with a touch of flu.  Ludo had placed himself in front of her television set to gaze at the 'pweedy' colors flashing across the screen.  A few goblin guards had come to her party as well and had made themselves at home in her kitchen.  Sir Diddymus had found her Scrabble board game, his personal favorite, and was playing Hoggle in the middle of her living room floor.  Her cat, which she had dubbed Schneider, sprawled out on one of her coats that lay over the back of her couch, his bright orange fur no doubt covering the garment. She smiled softly and made baby noises to him as she passed, scratching him behind his ears.

Sarah had thrown the party to celebrate her first Halloween out of school.  The years had seemed to fly by with her friends at her side and her busy schedule.  She had called upon her friends quite often, quickly picking up methods to hide her small parties from her parents and baby brother, Toby.  The easiest, and simplest, way to do this was to wait until she had the house to herself.  When she moved out of her parents home she could afford to call upon her pals whenever she wanted.

"Sarah?  Hows do ya spell botched?" Hoggle asked, staring hard at his small wooden pieces.  
  
"Like this," she said kneeling down and re-arranging the letters. "B-o-t-c-h-e-d…botched." She was surprised her little dwarf friend even knew the word.  Hoggle had a good heart but he lacked on brains.  
  
He beamed at her.  "His Majesty used that word a lot whens I'm around."  
  
"Ah," she thought.  
  
She now lived in one story white house with red tile roofing.  It wasn't a large house, but it sufficed for her, a single woman in her twenties.  She had one bathroom (no tub), one bedroom, a living room, kitchen and small front yard.  She had decorated her entire house in a fantastic manor, using all types of mystical figurines and accessories to brighten up her home.  She had several Escher posters framed and placed on the walls in her living room.  Several of her own abstract artworks hung along the short hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom.  Shelves lined almost every wall, filled with mostly books but also containing knickknacks her underground friends had brought her.  
  
She caught one of the objects as it was hurled across the room by a firey.  It was her personal favorite statuette.  (Although she would never admit to it).  She quickly set down the small figuring looking vaguely like Jareth on a shelf and continued to travel around the room, attempting to be a good hostess.  All in all Sarah was content with her life, but as she scanned over the crowd, she couldn't help but feel that something was missing.  As if she had forgotten to do something but couldn't quite remember what it was.  She had been having that feeling a lot over the past year.  At first she had thought that maybe she was lonely for a companion, and so began to allow her friends, the human ones, to set her up on blind dates.  She had met nice boys, and a few very handsome nice boys, but had never longed to be with any of them for a long length of time.  It was then that she got her cat, which kept her company, as well as left little reminders that he was present on all her clothing.  However, although she loved Schneider dearly, he still failed to fill the blank space inside of herself.  

At that moment something caught her eye.  One of the goblin guards was opening her living room window.  She started forward to tell him that there was no need because she had the air conditioning on, or "magic cold wind box" as they tended to call it, when a huge white owl flew through the window and landed on the arm of the couch.  All clamor in the room quieted. Everyone was painfully aware of the Goblin King's sudden appearance.  Sarah paled but found herself gravitating towards her couch.  Quickly, as if to take back his mistake, the goblin guard closed the window.  The sudden bang of the window meeting the sill made everyone jump.  Everyone but Sarah, that is, who was transfixed and deaf due to the pounding of her own heart.  The air was thick with tension and Sarah broke it the only way she knew how.

"Jareth?" she said, her voice barely audible.  
  
The owl had a moment to look cocky and ruffle it's feathers, puffing up importantly, before Schneider pounced on it.


	2. Chapter 2

Note:  Still own nothing.  Save the story plot.  Thank you to my editor Peggy.  You rock girl!

Sarah gasped and rushed towards the small cloud of feathers and fur that had appeared on her living room floor.  Pushing all self-caution aside, she quickly snatched up the owl somehow managing to avoid getting any major scratches herself.

Forgetting who and what the owl was, she cradled it protectively against her body as Schneider bounced around her, hissing and spitting his annoyance at having his prey taken away from him.

"Damn it, Schneider!  You dumb cat!  Knock it off," Sarah said sternly to the cat.

Ludo, who had been distracted by the noise, rose and picked up the cat, holding him tightly to keep from being scratched.

"Thank you Ludo," Sarah said giving the huge beast and small smile.

"Ludo luv Sawah's pet," he rumbled, patting Schneider on his head, stunning the cat into remaining still.

Hoggle stood dry-washing his hands, his large eyes flicking nervously between Sarah and the owl in her arms.

"I thinks we should go," he mumbled, twisting his hand together.

There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room.  Everyone had stopped doing what they were doing and had gathered around Sarah.  Sarah noticed that the goblin guard who had opened the window had a piece of chow mien caught on his helmet.

"We's don't want to be here when his Highness wakes up," Hoggle explained.

Sarah looked down at the owl in her arms and noticed that it was unconscious.  Worry over the hurt animal turned to a need for action when she saw blood seeping into the downy white feathers of the wing.

"I understand," she said, already walking towards the kitchen to get a towel for the bird. "Ludo, before you go, could you put Schneider in my bedroom please?" she called over her shoulder.

Ludo gave a grunt and she heard his footsteps heading down the hall.  She fished out a large clean towel, with which she usually used to dry her kitchen floor after mopping, and carefully wrapped it around the owl.  As she returned to her living room Ludo was walking back down her hallway, his task complete.

"Bye-bye, Sarwah," Ludo said, giving her his version of a grin. 

Hoggle, standing beside him was waving, too.

"Bye, guys," she said as they faded away.

Sarah blinked hard and rubbed her eyes.  No matter how many times she saw it, seeing them disappear always made her feel like something was wrong with her eyes.

Sarah put the injured owl down on the couch and went to her bathroom to root through the medicine cabinet for medial supplies.  She cringed as she discovered that the only supplies she had was a bottle of alcohol, some Neosporin, and a few cotton swabs.

She considered taking the owl, who was really Jareth, to a vet.  A little voice in the back of her head reminded her of what he really was, and briefly considered taking him to a real doctor of some sort but quickly decided not to do anything of the sort as visions of mayhem flashed through her mind.  With her luck she would take Jareth to a doctor and they would stare at her as if she were insane, bringing an owl into the place.  Or if she took him to a vet, he would probably wake up and promptly send both her and the doctor to the bog of stench.

No, she decided, it was much safer to keep him here.

She returned to her living room with her meager medical items and tended to his highness' injured limb as best she could then re-wrapped him in the towel and sat back in her la-z-boy to wait for him to wake.

*          *          *

Sarah had dozed off, her chin cradled in the palm of her right hand.  She had been sitting there for a little over two hours.  Since she was sleeping, she didn't notice when the owl's figure melted away to reveal a slender man dressed in grey tight fitting trousers and a flowing white shirt, gathered about his body by a stylish tight black vest.

Jareth sat up and scowled at his ruined shirt.  It had been shredded in places by that crazed animal and blood had stained the cloth.  He pushed aside the towel that lay over his body and swiveled sideways so that he sat properly upon Sarah's couch.

He saw that Sarah was asleep and sighed.  He had been too concerned with impressing her this evening that he hadn't seen the cat till the last moment and then it had been too late.  It made his stomach churn when he thought of how his life may have been ended by a common house animal.

A pair of mismatched eyes glared at the sleeping woman sitting across from him.  He had shown up to have a little fun and look where he was now.  He spun a crystal in his hand and prepared to return to his world when he stopped suddenly.  Why should he leave?  Couldn't he still have some fun?

A grin spread across his handsome features and he used his crystal to exaggerate the scratches that covered his arm into menacing gashes and rips in his flesh.  This act did cause him to cringe a bit but the pain was not too unbearable, especially when it put him in the position to abuse Sarah's hospitality.  He was due for a little R & R anyway.

He lay back on the couch and carefully lay the towel back over himself before clearing his throat and letting out a pained groan.  It had the effect he desired.  Sarah awoke with a start and he smiled inwardly.  This would be a wondrously entertaining experience.

Reviews are welcome.  If you see a problem in my writing please tell me so I may fix the error and also please leave a way for me to contact you.


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